University of Washington forced to foot the bill for far-right rally

The University of Washington will have to foot the bill for a far-right rally scheduled to take place on their campus this weekend after a federal judge ruled Friday that the university had acted unlawfully by charging a conservative on-campus group $17,000 to cover security costs.

The legal showdown between the University of Washington and the College Republicans is yet another example of the impossible landscape public universities are trying to navigate, as white nationalists and alt-right groups seek public appearances on their campuses.

The University of Washington, in particular, has plenty of reason to be on edge, not only in light of the violent events in Charlottesville last summer, which kicked off with a torch-lit white supremacist march at University of Virginia, but also because of what happened the last time it allowed a controversial speaker on campus.